DC Prime: Legion of Superheroes
by DC Prime Universe
Summary: Part of the DC Prime Universe: The year is 3021. The Justice League are a thing of the past, Earth - and the rest of the universe - is ridden with the disease of war, and the famine of death. The Legion of Superheroes, a team assembled to protect the galaxy, have risen up to stop it. But they too, like the rest of the galaxy, face collapse in these dark times.


**Legion: Chapter 1**

**By Paperclip Entertainment**

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><p><strong>Legion HQ, several miles outside of Earth's atmosphere, April 29th of 3021 (Earth Years)<strong>

Garth Rannz stared out the window of the satellite known as Legion HQ. He watched Earth.

He thought about how the planet was still in a slow process of destroying itself - and yet - healing itself at the same time. What a strange thing, this was. After all, they endured; it could all come crashing down at any moment, yet, somehow, there was still a beacon of hope.

The image of Earth faded. It was no window. Merely a projection of what could be seen outside the satellite. A red blur appeared behind Garth. A slim, juvenile figure in a red and white outfit burst out of nowhere at an extremely high speed around 10 feet from Garth.

He stopped himself somehow, leaving dark skid marks across the floor. This was Impulse, the time travelling speedster, paternal grandson of Barry Allen, the Flash, using his inherited abilities to traverse time and space in the blink of an eye.

Bart saluted his superior officer, Lightning Lad. It always creped Bart out to talk to him, Rannz was one of the few people who could sneak up on somebody like him. He was dark, menacing...creepy. He had a metallic arm and a scar on his eye. His facial hair and dark black/yellow uniform made him out to be some sort of veteran of sorts.

"Waddup, Garth? Got a mission report."

"Walk with me." Garth began walking alongside a series of columns, with Bart always using his speed to appear behind the next one. "I mean walk walk."

"Oh."

"Mission report.'

"Well, I snuck into Cadmus and didn't find much. Just a file on something called JL3K. Don't know what that means. I skimmed it, but I know there was mention of clones."

Garth had a concerned look. "Did you bring the file?"

"One second." Garth disappeared in a flash. He reappeared within seconds holding a file in his hand. "Right here, sir."

"Where's your flight ring, Allen?"

"Slipped off again, but I won't need it. Can't balance with it anyway."

"We'll have a new one assigned to you, Braniac 5 will make sure that this one is fitted to traverse the interdimensional highway alongside you, like your costume."

"Does that mean we're moving forward with your little 'master plan?' Because it's honestly not a big deal. I could vibrate at a frequency to traverse space/time anytime I wanted."

"It's not about you. Even traveling time and space is risky. We wouldn't want to break something, you know? Plus...we're still looking for other candidates."

"So it is about me."

"We just want to see if we can find somebody more...experienced with this kind of thing. The only person we have though is you. And you're still a rookie."

"Well, let me know when you inevitably say yes. I mean, I don't know why you wanna go to other dimensions, but it's obviously a controversial discussion amongst you bigwigs in the HQ."

"Just don't tell the other rookies that I'm putting you on solo missions. Ever. The council will come to a decision today."

"Alright."

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><p>In an instant Impulse was gone, and Lightning Lad walked into a room with five chairs. Two of them were empty, and he took one of them, leaving a dark emptiness above the center chair.<p>

Legionnaires Saturn, Braniac 5, and Green Lantern Rond Vidar sat at the table with Garth. A hologram of Tyroc, the leader of a separatist group from the planet Marzal, appeared next to Braniac 5. Tyroc was the leader of a separatist planet known as Marzal,who were allies with the Legion. Therefore, he was allowed to have a say in meetings like these.

"This meeting is now in session."

"It took you long enough." Saturn stared at Garth with a blank look on her face. All the Legionnaires, with the exception of Impulse, as he had not been present, had been going through a deep period of depression since the death of their leader, Cosmic.

He had been one of the founding members of the Legion, and had been tragically killed in an explosion when the Legion was holding off an invasion from the Five. The Five were an anarchist group that wished to conquer the entire universe. They had their sights set on Earth, but entered into a war with the Green Lantern Corps and the Legion.

Garth could not meet Saturn's gaze. Cosmo and Saturn were longtime lovers, and were to be married soon. Garth and Saturn had an affair, and Cosmo knew. Great shame was brought upon the three of them. They could not cooperate, despite being the leaders of the Legion. Due to Garth's failure to communicate with Cosmo, he died in the field of battle.

"We come here to discuss 'Protocol Zero.' I'm sure you've all taken this into consideration over the past few months."

Tyroc was the first to speak. He had a deep, loud, raspy voice. After all, he did have the power to release sonic screams from his vocal chords. "The people of Marzal respectfully advise against the act. We have been very clear that we wish to avoid any and all means of interdimensional travel and space-time manipulation."

"The Legion thanks you for your words, and will take them into consideration, Tyroc."

Rond Vidar spoke also. "The Guardians have been wary about the idea. However, they do respect that it is the Legion's decision: not theirs. On such a small scale, they see no immediate reason to advise against it. As the Legion's official representative of the Green Lantern Corps, I vote to move forward with Protocol Zero. If it can put a stop to the Five, it's worth it."

"Worth another Crisis?"

Everybody in the room looked back to the holographic image of Tyroc. His statement stunned them. They all knew that going back and forth through time could be dangerous, but none of them thought it would bring about another Crisis. A Crisis is defined as cataclysmic event which causes the Universe to be rewritten. The effects are catastrophic.

Rond replied to Tyroc's interruption. "Agent Impulse has gone back and forth through time before, this time is no different. The only difference is the purpose: instead of travelling time for his personal needs, his objective will be to find a point in time when the Five are weaker than ever before. That way we can prepare for that moment."

"And what if that moment has passed? You suggest that we defeat the Five before we ever even began Protocol Zero. If we go back in time to defeat them, the effects would be-"

"For the better, Tyroc, a world without the Five."

"And therefore, a world without the Legion."

"Tyroc, the chances that we would have to go back to defeat the Five are slim. Even so, do you really think that sending one individual through the time stream could cause an event such as this?"

"The farther we send him, the easier it will be for him to rip the space-time continuum. Moreover, as I recall, unless my memory fails, I do believe that a Flash altered the time stream at one point in the past, Vidar."

"That's enough." Garth could see that Tyroc intended to use Zero Hour against Rond. Rond took much pride in himself for being a Lantern, as his father was a Lantern before him. "Thank you, Rond."

The council looked to Braniac 5, who had been in deep thought during Tyroc and Vidar's argument. Braniac 5 was sentient, but still barely human. What went on in his head was unknown to the other members of the Legion.

"Tyroc's fears are not without merit. A paradox could very well occur during this operation. However, our chances of defeating the Five increase exponentially if we move forward with it. I vote in favor of Protocol Zero. It's worth the risk."

Saturn was beside herself. She was skeptical about sending Impulse of all people. "Are you sure that there aren't any other candidates? It's him we're talking about."

"We don't have anybody else who can do what he does."

"I suppose so."

Garth looked to the rest of them. "All in favor?"

With the exception of Tyroc, the 15h they all agreed to move forward with Protocol Zero.

"Then it's settled." Garth stood before the rest of them. "Initiate Protocol Zero, effective immediately."

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><p>Tyroc sat before a darker force in a dim room, shortly after the meeting.<p>

"They're moving forward with it."

"THEN YOU WILL ENSURE THAT NOTHING WILL GO AWRY."

"Of course, but this means nothing. If you attempt to claim Marzal, Earth, OR the Legion...I will destroy you."

"YOU WILL PREVENT ANOTHER CRISIS FROM HAPPENING. THAT IS THE DEAL. IN TURN, YOU WILL HAVE MY PLANET'S SUPPORT SHOULD THE LEGION DOUBLECROSS MARZAL."

"As always."

"DO NOT FAIL ME, TYROC. I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD STORIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE FAILED ME."

"...Yes." Tyroc turned off the Hologram device. He received a transmission from the Legion HQ.

"Tyroc. It's Lightning Lad speaking, we need you at HQ as soon as possible."

"Trouble?"

"A fleet of Lanterns was attacked, we need you to help investigate."

"By who?"

"Not sure, but whoever they were, they didn't want us receiving any Nth Metal. They took it all. Only a few Lanterns survived."

"Who would want to keep the Legion from creating more Flight Rings?"

"I have no idea, but one of the Lanterns went into shock. We need you down here, pronto."

"On my way."

Tyroc prepared his cruiser, when suddenly, it was destroyed by an invading fleet of ships from another planet. He didn't recognize the ships. He didn't even have enough time to scream before a winged woman covered in Nth Metal flew at him at top speed. Before he could turn around, he was hit again, and again.

He began to black out. He could see the cities of his planet crumbling around him. No...not here, not Marzal. The woman and several guards surrounded him. He couldn't make out the silver, armoured silhouette of the winged woman who attacked him, before she put an Nth Metal boot to his head. He thought he heard two words before he went out.

Pray?

Pray...

Praise.

Praise Thanagar.

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><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>


End file.
